A new season for Africa

Yesterday I watched a TED Talk on ending acute global poverty given by Bono known as the Good News on Poverty. The talk was very inspirational and showed that if we all worked together, fought for just laws and preferred our neighbour over ourselves, we could end global poverty by 2028.

Exciting, hey!?

I have great hope for Africa. I see a generation of unsatisfied Africans being raised up to bring about a change that will rock the world. Just this morning received an email from a Rwandan friend of mine where he talks of his own journey with God.

In it, he said:
Telling and explaining the truth, it seems, requires God's own tutorship and investing much time in learning all that the Lord brings before you:-) I thank the Lord for great opportunities not only for having knowledgeable instructors but also for the grace of learning new things.

All this makes me turn my eyes to my beautiful country, Rwanda--with all her vast needs, not only physical but, even much more, spiritual. There's no poverty so dire as spiritual, so much so that when it's met by the Lord the poor are deemed rich in his estimation, no matter how materially poor they may be. The example is the words addressed by the Lord to the Church of Smyrna: ... I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan (Rev. 2:8-9 NIV).  

Rwanda, too, has vast needs, that is, in a total sense, encompassing physical and spiritual. I believe the Lord has ordained that i should be one of the people whom He shall use to meet some of the needs. That's why He has brought me to South Africa, as it were in a wilderness, to learn His Word and different ways to minister it. He keeps me in school because, i suppose, spiritual needs will grow worse and worse; whereas for the saved, there's a dire need for growth which is brought about not by mere length of time but by proper feeding from the Dish of Christ. Without this we can expect degeneration at every turn. Therefore, brothers and sisters, pray for us, that the Lord, having committed this ministry to us, the earthen vessels, may form us accordingly, and that we may in the end not prove to be stubborn but obedient.

The fact that I'm British living in Africa doesn't mean that I have the solutions. I do not have a saviour mentality or rescuing complex. Far from it. What we have is a faith in the God who created this beautiful planet and a willingness to serve Him wherever He sends us. This perspective means that when we enter a new place and meet new people, we ask God for what He wants us to do and allow Him to move us, challenge us and use us affect positive change for those around us.